Lost Causes (24 page)

CHAPTER 25

F
rom the outside, everything appeared the same. We parked in the alley, then crept around the building, scanning for threats.

There was no electrical fire, no broken windows, not even another closure for health violations. The Rat Trap was already open, ready to welcome the dedicated drunks and the college students who believed hair of the dog was a valid lifestyle choice.

“So much for our plan to swoop in and save the day,” I said.

Mac peered through the windows, but they were dirty and covered with too many neon signs to see much. “It’s a bit late to mention this, but anyone else thinking this could be a trap?”

We all were, but it didn’t matter. Frank was inside, and we couldn’t abandon him to Deborah’s evil plans. When Sera and I had been reckless undergrads, the owner of the Rat Trap took care of us. He made sure we received only the best booze, then he made sure we got home safely. Both Christopher and Brian had worked for him. A lot had happened since those wild college days, most of it bad, but once they’d been our second family. Of the three, Frank was the only one still alive. He needed to stay that way, no matter what waited for us inside.

The Rat Trap was the world’s only combination lounge/dive/tiki bar, and for a few years it had practically been my and Sera’s living room. At midnight, with the lights dimmed and beer goggles firmly in place, it felt like a glorious land of possibility.

At ten in the morning, with the sun streaming through the dirty windows, it was barely recognizable. The dark red vinyl booths were cheap plastic, and the tiki artifacts on the walls likely had a “Made in China” label. Instead of being packed with healthy young coeds, a few old-timers ringed the bar, the sort of men who showed up early to fight the shakes and didn’t leave until they were numb or broke, whichever came first.

The place was ugly as sin, but at that moment it looked beautiful. It was standing, and so was Frank—and the council was nowhere in sight.

Frank stood behind the bar, watering a listless potted ivy. He’d always tried to keep a few living plants. He said it gave the place a bit of warmth. The fact that they all died within a month never dissuaded him.

“Aidan, my beauty!” he called out, earning startled glances from the old-timers. “And Sera, too? Tell me what I’ve done to deserve this, and I’ll be sure to do it again.”

Frank was short, skinny, and hirsute, with features too heavy to be handsome. He was also an unrepentant flirt, and his enthusiasm and ability to make every woman feel special made him a surprisingly successful one. Frank was also devoted to his long-suffering wife, so no one took his frequent declarations of love seriously. Mac didn’t even growl when Frank smiled at me.

Frank considered the enormous man at my side. “Don’t tell me this is your type. It’s no wonder I didn’t have a shot.”

“Please. A charmer like you always has a shot.”

Frank winked, then looked over my shoulder at the others. In addition to Mac and Sera, Vivian had insisted on coming.

“I like Frank,” she’d said, and that was that.

Some of the others stayed at the cabin while Will and Carmen returned to their homes to check on both the buildings and the people inside. With the council escalating their threats, I regretted that there was no equivalent of the compound in Tahoe. We could really use an underground bunker right about now.

Frank picked up a rag and rubbed down the already clean counter. “Don’t think I’m not pleased to see you, but I don’t remember you lot being morning drinkers.”

“We’re not here to drink,” Sera said.

Though it had taken twenty minutes to drive to the Rat Trap, we’d been too panicked about what we might discover to bother coming up with a plausible explanation for our visit. I wasn’t sure we had time to be subtle, anyway. “You have to leave. It’s not safe here.”

Frank’s considerable eyebrows stretched toward his hairline. They didn’t have far to go. “I only got the damned place open again after a bureaucratic nightmare you wouldn’t believe.”

“We’ll pay for the lost business. I can’t go into the details, but you really are in danger.” I hoped for once my transparent face worked in my favor and Frank could see my sincerity.

Whatever he saw, it wasn’t enough. “I’m going to need more information than that, Aidan.”

I tried again. “I can’t. You’ve known me for years, Frank. Maybe I didn’t always make the best decisions, but I’m not a liar. Please believe me.”

Frank braced both hands on the bar and leaned forward, tilting his head up to meet my gaze. “And you know me. I’m not running for no reason.”

My voice rose. “There is a reason! I just can’t tell you!”

Frank matched my glare, and I struggled to think of a reasonable explanation for my request.

“Ahem.” When Sera had Frank’s attention, she nodded at the ivy he’d been watering a minute before.

Before his eyes, the brown leaves turned a rich green, the thin stems strengthening and sprouting new leaves. Vivian’s face was tight, all her limited power focused on this demonstration.

“What on earth?” Frank’s eyes darted between the plant and Vivian.

I stared at Vivian, torn between shock and admiration. My friend was becoming a rule breaker.

She’d also made things a lot easier for us.

“Exactly. Vivian’s an earth. Sera’s fire. I’m complicated. But we can flood this place or burn it down with a thought, and we’re not the only ones. Right now, people who really don’t like us are threatening to hurt those we care about. So will you close the bar now?”

It wasn’t like we could get in more trouble by that point.

Frank’s mouth opened and closed with no sound. The old-timers considered the plant, then their drinks, trying to decide if there was a connection.

Mac suggested they finish their drinks and move on. They didn’t argue. Then it was just us, waiting on Frank’s answer.

“You’re an earth?” He said the word like he’d never heard it before. He turned his dazed eyes on me and Sera. “You two… does this have anything to do with the way you haven’t aged in fifteen years?”

Sera leaned toward him. “We’ll answer all your questions as soon as we’re somewhere else.”

Frank seemed dazed, but he managed a nod. “Let me get my coat.”

He was walking back to us when the front of the bar exploded.

Glass flew toward us, thin slivers and heavy shards alike as the front windows shattered. I barely registered what was happening before I found myself on the floor, struggling under Mac’s immovable form.

I turned my head enough to see Sera under a table, her eyes black as she counteracted the spreading flames. If they reached the bottles of alcohol lined up behind the bar, the whole place would go up. I threw my power in with hers, and together we extinguished the fires.

Before we could relax, a second explosion rocked the building, louder than the first. The roof crumbled, chunks of plaster falling to the floor. Mac twitched as a large piece landed on his shoulders. He wrapped himself tighter around me.

“I can’t see,” My ears rang. I shouted, but my voice sounded tiny and distant. “Let me up.”

He ignored me.

We waited, fearing a third explosion, but nothing came. I gave Mac’s shoulder a hard shove, and finally he moved.

Sera was unhurt, but Vivian wasn’t doing as well. Her back was braced against the bar. She held her right arm at an awkward angle, and her dark complexion had grown ashen.

I crawled to her. “Oh hell, Vivian. Let me see.”

I expected to see fear in her eyes, or despair at finding herself in this situation yet again. Instead, I saw only strength. “I’m fine.”

Sera’s broken sob reminded me that Vivian wasn’t the only one who required help.

A six-inch piece of glass jutted from Frank’s neck. If that wasn’t enough to kill him, the layers of roofing pressing against his chest would finish the job.

“Hell no. Oh hell no.” It was all I could say, and I kept repeating it as I knelt at Frank’s side. I didn’t waste time focusing. Frank needed to live, and I could only heal him if I moved fast.

My magic shot past Frank’s skin and attached to the water molecules that form so much of the human body. I was rewarded with a tiny flicker of life. So long as his heart beat, he could be saved.

Creation magic, I reminded myself.

I pushed the embedded glass outward, knitting the arteries and tissue as I went. It was unexpectedly easy. Life wanted to triumph, and Frank didn’t fight me.

Sirens wailed in the distance. I moved as fast as I dared, expanding Frank’s lungs and stopping the internal bleeding. Above us, Mac lifted layer after layer of the ceiling, lessening the pressure on Frank’s chest.

Sera tapped my shoulder. “You’ve stabilized him. Let’s go.”

“We can’t leave him.”

“You hear that? It’s an ambulance, and it’ll be here in thirty seconds. If the cops following them see us, we’ll be answering questions all day when we should be figuring out how to end Deborah once and for all. Now move your fucking ass.”

Reluctantly, I withdrew the threads of magic from Frank. His breathing remained labored and a sheen of sweat covered his forehead, but he was alive.

Vivian leaned on Mac for support. She kept a hand on her broken arm, holding it in place. Sera and I followed them through the small kitchen. I glanced back at Frank once. I would remember what they’d done to him. What they would continue to do if we didn’t end this.

We burst out into the empty alley and ran to the Bronco. We pulled into the street just as the fire truck arrived. Stephen Grant, the local police who was also an ice elemental, was right behind them. We passed him on our way out. His eyes widened when he saw, then he nodded in understanding. Stephen would fix it so no one ever knew we were there.

No one except the council.

Despite everything we needed to discuss, or perhaps because of it, we were silent as we returned to the cabin. Tahoe was our home, and they were taking it from us a piece at a time… and they’d keep doing it until I capitulated to their demands. This was starting to feel like a lose/lose situation.

I couldn’t get the stench of smoke out of my nose. It taunted me, a lingering reminder of how easily Deborah had manipulated us.

The smell grew stronger. Mac’s eyes met mine, matching expressions of panic on our faces, then he punched the accelerator.

He pulled to a screeching stop before the smoldering ruins of the cabin.

We fell from the SUV and ran toward the remains of our home.

The ground floor was burnt but recognizable. Scorched walls outlined each room, though nothing within the walls had been spared. The second floor was only rubble, and the third floor loft was missing altogether. Thick plumes of black smoke rose from the wreckage.

The explosion at the Rat Trap hadn’t been intended to harm us so much as distract us. Deborah had used Frank’s business and his life as nothing more than a diversion, and we fell for it like actors in a script she wrote just for us. She’d separated us with ease so the council could attack where it would hurt the most.

This was my home. It was all of our homes—and it hadn’t been empty.

“Simon!” I screamed. “Miriam! Grams!” I yelled their names until my throat was raw.

For too many heartbreaking moments, the only other sound was the river pouring over rocks, then an adorable head poked above the river’s surface. A small cat with singed fur emerged from the nearby forest.

My knees buckled in relief and I fell to the ground. My friends shifted to their human forms, and for the first time since I’d known them, they didn’t look comfortable naked. They looked exposed.

“Grams?” I asked them.

“She and Jet went with Will. She said she wanted to meet the children of shifters.”

Of course she did.

“Call her. She’s better at healing than I am, so she should fix Vivian’s arm. It broke when the bar exploded and now the cabin’s gone. It’s gone. Call everyone and tell them the council is done waiting. They’ve started breaking things.” A sob escaped before I could stop it, and another soon followed. “Everything’s broken. Everything.”

Mac crawled to me while I fought for control. I couldn’t afford to break down, not yet.

I gripped his hand, fearing his despair and rage matched my own. The cabin was the only thing his mother left him, and now it was rubble. But when his eyes caught mine, his expression was more fierce than angry. “This was them, not you.”

“I don’t know. Burning houses have become a theme in my life.” I tried for a wry smile before I realized Miriam and Simon remained tense and angry, and one person was noticeably absent. “Wait, where’s Luke?”

I wasn’t concerned. I was pissed. Luke should have been here. If he’d controlled the flames, the cabin would still be standing.

Miriam glowered. “They took him. Pretty little thing walked right up to him, and he smiled and flirted as she stabbed him with a fucking needle.”

I drew my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms tight around my shins. “Luke wouldn’t trust someone from the council. He’s not an idiot.”

“It wasn’t a water. A fire climbed out of a red sports car, said she was a friend of Sera’s. He never had a chance. And after he was out, she burned the place to the ground.”

Sera cursed and began pacing.

It took great effort not to rock back and forth. “A fire elemental did this?” If so, the situation was even worse than I thought.

Sera gave a terse nod. “No chemicals, no electrical failure. Those fires have a bitterness you’ll learn to recognize. This was oxygen, rage, and magic.”

I closed my eyes and fought a shudder. Despite the smoldering cabin, I was cold. Goosebumps rose on my skin. “They brought in outside help.”

It seemed the council had, at last, accepted that my friends and I were stronger than they were. They’d given up their pride, their desire to keep my existence a secret, so they could even the numbers.

“At least it explains why the water council kept setting fires,” Miriam said.

It was impossible to know how many elementals they’d summoned, or how many were fulls who could crush my friends.

I only knew one thing for certain. They would never stop, and it had already gone too far. A forest of shifters had been displaced. Our home was destroyed. Frank was in the hospital. Somewhere, Luke was trapped, his best-case scenario imprisonment and life-altering drugs.